


Below the Surface

by bluphacelia



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Intrigue, M/M, Mermen, Merpeople, Seaborne Zine, Stealth Mission, Zine: Seaborne - A Voltron Merfolk Fanzine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-06
Updated: 2019-04-06
Packaged: 2020-01-05 12:01:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18365594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluphacelia/pseuds/bluphacelia
Summary: "What'd I miss?" Lance asks as he swims to join the others."Oh, the last of your party has finally arrived," she says. Her voice is startlingly loud. The others turn as she speaks—Hunk with a surprised splash of his tail—to look at Lance."Avast fair warriors of the seas! You must go forth and rescue the," she stops for a moment and clears her throat. "Rescue the-." She stops again."The Fair Shiro?" Pidge supplies drily and the stranger nods enthusiastically at her words.-- Lance and his other merpals have been given a quest to rescue the Fair Shiro. Will they succeed?





	Below the Surface

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the Seaborne Zine, a Voltron charity zone about the ocean for ocean conservation.

A piece of coral tumbles down into the endless dark below the reef as a swift figure darts in and out of the shadow it casts. A school of colorful fish coasts along the edge of the reef, then turns abruptly inward when a large shadow slides across the precipice leading into deeper water.

The figure waits, heart pounding against his ribs, back against the sharp coral as he peers up, up at the huge creature drifting in the above. It's an odd shape, oblong and flat—nothing like he's seen before. It has tens of small flippers propelling it along in the water, but it's clumsy and slow unlike the other, bigger prey in these parts. His fear turns to curiosity as it continues to drift by, ignoring the ever present currents. 

It takes a tic or two but then the creature passes, and he slips into the cavern system. 

He waits for his eyes to adjust, for the small bioluminescent scales on his arms to flicker to life in the predominating darkness. The glow is faint but it allows him to inspect the markings on the sandstone walls as he slips through the maze-like tunnels, carefully picking his way. After a dozen turns, he starts to hear a soft murmur of voices through the water. He can feel the vibrations change in pitch and then grow heated, the spit-fire retort splashing against his skin.

Finally he floats to the entrance of the large space he's been searching for—a cavern, deep below the vibrant reef. The seabed is littered with rocks and pieces of salvaged goods from the outside. Bits of rotting wood lie beside pieces of bleached coral. Clams and seashells are broken and scattered about. And there, in the middle of the space, float four figures. He recognizes three straight away as his schoolmates: Hunk with his dark yellow and orange flowing tail, scales the size of your palm, hard and unbending; Pidge, her green fins almost see-through, sleek lines made for speed as well as stealth; Keith, scales such a dark red they almost seem black in the light of the soft glowing algae. The fourth, however, gives him pause. She's larger than the rest, hands webbed just like theirs, but her tail is an iridescent sparkle, prismatic as she bobs in the stagnant water. 

"What'd I miss?" he asks as he swims to join the others.

"Oh, the last of your party has finally arrived," she says. Her voice is startlingly loud. The others turn as she speaks—Hunk with a surprised splash of his tail—to look at Lance.

"Avast fair warriors of the seas! You must go forth and rescue the—" she stops for a moment and clears her throat. "Rescue the—." She stops again.

"The Fair Shiro?" Pidge supplies drily and the stranger nods enthusiastically at her words.

"Yes! The Fair Knight Shirogane who was so tragically captured!" she says. The small jewels braided into her white hair glitter with a sudden burst of electrical energy. It leaves the rest of them dazed and blinking as she apologizes profusely, a pink flush spreading down her cheeks.

She clears her throat and the others swim closer, more wary this time. "I am the Lady of Altea," she introduces herself. "I am here to help."

"So....," Pidge prompts, looking up at the Lady, waiting.

"Your quarry was captured last week, as you know, in a terrible gamble against fate! A struggle with a dozen bipedal creatures, with dark seal skin and a single glowing eye, left our party scattered. But now, finally, we are together again except for our dear Shirogane," she says, blinking her eyes as they well with emotion. "I've managed to locate where he is being kept prisoner. They've taken him up into the above. They are keeping him in a cage near the water's edge. If we do not get to him quickly, he will wither up and dry." 

There is a notable gasp from Hunk and he quickly clasps a hand over his own mouth. The Lady gives him a look, but then continues. "You'll have to go up in search of him. Bring him back into the deep without alerting these strange creatures."

"Well this sounds like a job for me," Pidge says and rubs her hands together.

"You will need all of your skills to be able to swim across this hurdle," the Lady continues, effectively silencing her. "I will stay here, but make haste! The night is drawing to a close and your window of opportunity will be forfeit!"

The foursome exchange a look and with a final bow they swim toward the exit. They leave the cozy cave behind and enter the tunnels. Then stop.

"I think Pidge is right," Keith says. "We should sneak in."

"I think we should watch and wait a bit first," Hunk says. "See how they react. They don't seem to come into the deep at night often. I don't know how they can move in the above, but they've clearly come up with a good mechanism for it. We need to figure this out before barging forward."

"We don't have time to waste! We have to go soon, when it is the darkest hour," Keith insists.

"I've been watching them for days. I can definitely get us close, but I have no idea where they are keeping Shiro," Pidge confides. 

"So what are we waiting for?!" Keith exclaims, and they hasten their way after his powerful dash forward. They catch up to him, barely, at the entrance of the cavern. It's not the same one Lance had entered from, but one off to the side, under the huge compound that slowly emerged from the above to sit on top of the waves.

"So, we really should think about this," Hunk says as they peer up.

"I have to agree with Hunk. I saw what they did to that pod of sharks. The water ran crimson," Pidge says. "I'm still of the mind that we should just," she pauses. "Stealth. That was the mission after all. To not get caught."

"And we don't have any weapons either," Lance reminds them. "They were all taken away by the King."

"And the Lady didn't give us any," Hunk says.

"Not that we even asked for any," Pidge replies.

"Dammit," Keith curses. "We forgot to ask."

Lance swims in a small loop around himself out of frustration. "So, we can't be caught for sure and we know how good we are at stealth!"

Lance can see Pidge's back fin flare up in agitation as she hisses. "Speak for yourself, clumsy!" 

"Okay. Uh guys," Hunk says.

"What?" Lance and Pidge both turn to him.

"Keith left," he says and points out into the vast open water. They can just make out the black shadow that is Keith, swimming furiously toward the deep dark beneath the complex.

They watch him disappear. "Bets on him blowing our cover in the first thirty minutes?" Pidge asks.

"Count me in the first fifteen," Lance says.

"Five for me," Hunk pipes in as they all push off after Keith.

They swim in silence, avoiding the sharp glare of lights from above. They learned early on how dangerous it is to be spotted in one of these spot-lights. In less time than they anticipated, they reach the edge of the first construction. Lance places his palm on the icy surface. It is just like the others he's investigated so far. It seems to suck in the light around it, a black maw ready to engulf them whole. Lance looks over at his friends who float in the water next to him. They are trying to stay away from the ever glowing lights ahead, while still peering through the waves into the above.

"We have to go above," Lance whispers.

"But Keith," Hunk hisses back. "We don't know where he went."

"I'm going to go," Pidge leans in to say. "I'll just take a quick peek!" And with a flash of her tail fin, she's gone, leaving the two of them alone.

"Well. This is great," Lance says, hands going automatically to his hips. He keeps his eyes on where Pidge disappeared, but can only see darkness.

"Lance," Hunk says a moment later.

Lance ignores him in favor of staring at nothing. Seeing nothing. Perceiving nothing. 

"Lance," Hunk says again, this time going far enough to tug at his arm.

"What?" Lance hisses, twisting away from his quarry of—empty ocean—only to be pulled back, away from the one-eyed monster who'd fallen into the water from above. Bubbles burst around them and Hunk tugs at his hand. "Run, run!" Hunk repeats under his breath as Lance follows suit. 

"Why didn't you warn me!!" Lance gasps as they dart into a small dip in the side of the compound. Hearts pounding, they squeeze into the darkness, hoping nothing will see them from here.

"I did! I tried but you were too busy waiting on—mhhmmffhmm." The words end garbled as Lance puts his hand over Hunk's mouth. His breathing comes shallow as a trio of one-eyed seal monsters swim past, their two finned feet pushing through the water, clumsy and fumbling like a newborn sea calf. 

They pass their hideout by just a few feet and Lance holds his breath, trying to melt into the wall behind them. One of the creatures tugs at the other—hands oddly white and gleaming against the black seal skin—but they don't turn or change their trajectory. All they do is swim, bob, swim in the clumsy wavering form. And soon enough they are gone behind another curve of black ever-dark material.

"Okay, that was a bit too close," Hunk gasps as Lance pulls his hand away.

"Do you think Pidge is okay? And Keith?" Lance whispers as he leans out of their cubby hole. He sees no one and with a quick gesture they swim up, up and into the above.

They break above the waves, backs against the cold construct. Lance coughs, clearing his lungs of water. They are under some sort of overhang, hidden in the dark shadows.

"Why'd you swim into the above? It's dangerous!" Hunk says, peering up and over the choppy waves.

"Well, Keith is gone. Pidge is gone. Shiro is captured. If we don't go and save everyone who knows what'll happen next," Lance says. The words feel strange in his mouth as he shakes his head to dislodge water from his ears.

There is little movement above as they swim, skirting the large compound trying to find their friends or Shiro.

"We don't have all that much time," Hunk says as they pass the third patrol of the night. They barely made it this time. 

"You think I don't know that," Lance hisses back, eyes up, trying to see above the tall railing. "I think I need a better vantage point. Lift me!"

"I uh," Hunk starts, but Lance interrupts with a, "Come on!"

Lance stretches his fingers up, up higher and suddenly there is a large force pushing him up from below. He braces himself and grabs hold of the slippery surface. He manages to pull himself up high enough to get a good look around. The beams of light are mounted on large sticks above, but they're facing the opposite side of the flat island surface. He peers further, moving his torso to the right and then to the left trying to get a better look.

"See anything?" Hunk hisses from down below, but his voice comes warbled and oddly pitched. 

A shrill siren wail pierces the grounds. Lance freezes and there is a moment of bated breath before the compound bursts to life. Lights flicker on, one by one, and a wave of sound comes from all directions. Lance starts, then fumbles. His fingers slip on the slick surface. He loses his grip. 

Heart lodged into his throat he tries to grab on to something, anything. There is a moment where he catches hold of a discarded box nearby, but it's light, useless. With a startled squeak he tumbles back, and back into the sweet cold embrace of the ocean. He pops back up to the surface, gasping for breath. 

"You okay?" It's Hunk, his large body pulling him lower and lower into the deep.

"What?" Lance manages to say, only to be interrupted by a half dozen splashes from above. Clouds of bubbles erupt in every direction as many heavy somethings come barreling into the sea.

"I think you brought company," Hunk says, eyes wide as he watches at the newcomers. 

"Understatement of the fucking year! Swim!" Lance squeaks and they do. Fins and tails curling into the water, they dart forward as fast as they possibly can. Everything is bright. The ocean flooded with light. The creatures are gaining on them, propelled by something through the water, making their earlier clumsy exploits a joke.

It doesn't take long for them to be surrounded. Hunk looks about, fearful but ready to fight even without weapons, fists out. 

A light flashes straight into his face and he flings his hands up trying to see. There is a sudden burst of bubbles from the mouth of one of the seal-creatures. And Lance is restrained and hauled back up toward the surfac—

"This is stupid!!" Lance throws his cards onto the holotable. The little holograms fizzle and then settle back into place. "It was a group stealth mission! What the fuck happened?"

He looks accusingly at Keith who is sitting on the other side of the table between Shiro and Pidge. Keith doesn't pay him any attention as he bites at his thumb, eyes glued onto his own cards, foot tapping nervously on the floor.

"Come on. It's just a game," Hunk tries, but Lance shrugs his hand off, jumping to his feet.

"Team building exercises my ass!!" he exclaims, this time thrusting his index finger at Allura who is sitting at the head of the table, smugly looking at the small crowd of weird alien divers surrounding their characters.

"It is vital to learn how to work together in any situation," her voice is smug as she watches all of their small characters hauled up onto the boat with Shiro, who got lost in the last 'team building' exercise, last movement. He sits there, whispering something to a distressed looking Keith, while Pidge rubs her hands together about ready to detonate a nuclear device to destroy the whole compound.

Lance breathes in deep and closes his eyes for a tic before sitting back down on the couch.

"I hate—water levels—so much," he says through his teeth.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on [tumblr](http://bluphacelia.tumblr.com/) and [twitter](https://twitter.com/blu_tweets). I post works in progress etc, but I'm more active on Twitter if you want to come say hello!


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